Torment
by Gummysaur
Summary: She was born with an immunity to pain. He has gone through an unbelievable amount of it. Joanne Kaiser is an alchemy prodigy, so is he. Perhaps they could learn a thing or two from one another. [OCs, no ships]
1. Chapter 1

**Why the heck am I doing this to myself? I haven't finished Morning, Midday, Night, or Past Mistakes and I'm starting another fanfic. Luckily, I've had the foresight to write the entire story before publishing it. Which means all the chapters are here in my fanfiction folder, waiting.**

**Warning: This chapter contains some gore and violence. Also some saucy language. It might be a little confusing; the chunk of italics midway through the story is supposed to be what happened a couple minutes before what's written right here.**

* * *

_Being tortured_, Joanne decided, _is very boring_.

She felt the cold metal enter her body. The slick, smooth steel glided through her flesh, wedging its way between her bones and into her muscles. It felt irrevocably _wrong _and disgusting. Numbness exploded out from the spot, crawling up her body in tendrils. It tickled. She tried not to smile.

The man seemed surprised. He dragged the knife out, and more pins-and-needles shot up her chest. She couldn't help it; a short laugh escaped her lips. Now all of them looked stunned.

"Sorry," she snickered. "I'm afraid you chose a really bad victim."

Their eyes hardened and they went to work on her. They quickly established that knives had no effect; the larger man soon replaced the guy who'd been stabbing her, spitting out insults in Cretan. He then lifted his fist and punched her in the stomach. Hard.

She felt his fist push her body back, the air rush out of her body, and a prickling sensation, but no pain. Never any pain. He punched her a few times, to no avail.

"_Enough!_" the sharp-jawed one finally spat. He stalked forward, looking at the blood falling from her various stab wounds. His eyes trailed up her body and locked onto her face, completely stony and straight.

"You cannot feel pain," he stated.

"Wow, took you that long? The others I've been to figured it out a lot quicker." she offered a smile.

Irritation shined through on his face in every way it could.

"Very well, then. I shall cause you pain of mind rather than pain of body."

Then started the psychological harassment, which was never fun, but all she had to do was block it out, plain and simple. She thought of home. She felt hungry and thirsty. She was not looking forward to giving her report to the Colonel, but it would be better than staying here. She got so invested with her thoughts that she didn't even notice when the man stepped away, tossing her clothes to the floor. He sighed something that Joanne assumed meant _I give up. _Good. If he touched her bra one more goddamn time with those cold fingers, she'd break the chair. He gestured to the man who'd lead her to the torture-room, muttering a command. He nodded and undid her chains, practically dragging her out of the room. His frustration, confusion, and anger was nearly tangible. As he swiftly guided her down the halls, Joanne was acutely aware of her stab wounds spilling blood onto the stone floor. Every step she took sent small bursts of numbness. _This isn't good…normally I'd be in enough pain to pass out. I think. _She was never good at predicting pain.

Eventually, she was back in the basement, chained to the wall. She waited until he went back up the stairs before thinking of a plan. First, she staunched the blood flowing from her body, which took some time with all her chains. There was a small pool of sticky, red liquid on the ground by the time she was all good. At least, good enough to not bleed to death. She dabbed her finger in the blood and carefully began drawing a transmutation circle. Her area of expertise was nowhere near physical transmutations, but every alchemist worth her salt could transmute a tunnel out of stone. She pressed her hand to the crude circle. With effort, the wall behind her yawned into a small tunnel opening into the outdoors. She winced at the explosive noise and color of the transmutation. _Quickly, _she told herself, crawling outside, taking care not to reopen her wounds. She soon found that she couldn't crawl through the mounds of snow, and was forced to stand upright. Her skin split and crimson stained her black clothes.

* * *

_Joanne clinked her ice-cold handcuffs together in the basement, waiting impatiently. _The Colonel's gonna have my head! Mission failure, not to mention I'm gonna have to get my watch replaced. I really doubt I'm gonna find it around here. And my cape, too, son of a—

_Steps alerted a stranger's approach. Joanne looked up. There stood a tall, thin man with jet-black spiky hair and eerily green eyes. He would've been attractive if it wasn't for the frigid air of cruelty hanging around his person. It was fitting, she thought, to have such a cold, rigid man in this cold, rigid room._

"_Come, girl," he growled in a clipped Cretan accent._

"_I'd love to," Joanne replied sweetly. "Except I have these fucking handcuffs that'll give me frostbite and I can't move my ass."_

_The man didn't show any sign of irritation except the slightest twitch of an eyebrow. His boots clicked with a dull staccato as he stepped towards her. He kneeled in front of her, placing his index finger on her cheek and slowly dragging it down until it rested on her chest. Joanne couldn't kick him, so she just glared with as much fire as she had, then stuck her tongue out. She tried not to grin at the brief look of alarm on his face at the sight of it; her tongue didn't end in a rounded tip like most normal tongues did, instead cutting off abruptly to be rather square shaped._

"_I bit it off when I was little," she answered calmly to his expression. "Now, get your hands off my boobs and take off my handcuffs."_

"_Know your place, girl," he replied smoothly, rearranging his face to be a blank mask. He took the handcuff chain off the wall, but kept her hands bound._

"_We know you are…alchemist," he explained._

"_I don't have my transmutation cape, dumbass."_

"_We do not take the chances here in Creta." he guided her up the stairs and down the halls of the damp, musty building. It seemed abandoned._

"_We're still technically in Amestris," Joanne muttered._

"_I said to know of your place, girl."_

_Joanne tried not to bite her tongue in frustration. Last time she did that it didn't end well._

_He led her into a room with nothing but a table, a chair, and two other men. The table was covered with knives. One of the men was dark-skinned, large, and buff. The other looked exactly like her escort, except he had a sharper jaw and blue eyes._

"_Sit in that chair," the blue-eyed man ordered._

_Joanne shrugged and complied. She caught flickers of surprise in their eyes. They had probably expected her to refuse._

"_Do your worst," she said lazily._

_The three kidnappers talked to eachother in fast Cretan. Then the first man walked up to her, holding a small knife. He kneeled in front of her, as he'd done before, and sharply yanked her shirt up._

"_Hey!" Joanne snapped._

* * *

"Shit," she mumbled under her breath. Moving as fast as her bruised, bleeding body could handle, her feet trudged through the powdery fluff. To her surprise, she could already spot a town; it was a bit far, but she certainly could make it.

A few moments later, shouts reached her ears. Whirling around, her stomach jumped when she saw her three capturers chasing her, faces red with cold and fury. Without hesitation, she dropped to her knees, drawing a circle in the snow. She forced herself to draw the circle from memory; she prayed that it would work, sloppy as the circle was, and unstable as snow was as a drawing surface.

Her palm flattened itself onto the symbols; a tree reaching into the sun, a pentagon with five circles surrounding each vertex, complete with runes in the ancient Xerxian language. She shut her eyes.

Instantly, the world was nothing but black covered in purple branches. The lilac strands combined to create several nuclei, each one a person. She focused on the three bunches behind her, and she quickly calculated that she would share ninety-nine percent of her pain with them. With a hiss of effort and explosive violet light, the pain in her body spread through the snow and connected with each of the men, each one receiving exactly 33% of what she was feeling at the moment.

Screams of agony and dull thumps reached her ears, as they all collapsed to the ground. Joanne blinked in surprise; was she in such bad shape that only a third of her pain was enough to fell a grown man? Well, that just meant she had to hurry up. She stumbled up, and numbness covered her entire person. The snow under her turned crimson, like a blooming rose. Dizziness began collecting in the corners of her mind. She huffed as she forced herself to keep moving.

After what felt like an eternity of mindless trudging, she found herself at the entrance of the town. Stumbling, she swayed back and forth before collapsing onto the powdery, soft snow.

* * *

…**And there's the first chapter! It's not entirely necessary, but it's for some backstory and such. I know it's not making much sense right now, but it will later.**


	2. Chapter 2

"_Well, it's not as if we can care for her!"_

I'm too young to care for her.

"_We don't even have enough food to feed ourselves, let alone her!"_

I can't feed myself and this little one, too.

"_We can't just leave her! She's so young, and she was injured all alone out there!"_

I can't leave someone so tiny out in the streets.

"_So? What are we supposed to do about it?"_

What can someone like me do?

"_Lets just wait until she wakes up, alright?"_

I suppose I'll take her for now…

* * *

"Oh, Harold, I think she's finally coming to."

Joanne swam into consciousness. Her body prickled and her brain felt hot and fuzzy. With effort, her eyes pried themselves apart and quickly reunited as light invaded them.

"Come on, dear, open your eyes."

She groaned in annoyance, then suddenly felt fully awake as the memories of what had happened came back. She bolted up.

"Easy there," the kind voice warned. It sounded like an elderly woman. Joanne turned to face it and saw that her prediction was exactly correct. Concern shone in the woman's eyes.

"Easy," she repeated. "Whatever got you did quite a number. You're covered in all sorts of cuts and such."

"Where am I?" Joanne rasped.

"You're in our little town of Bervale. We found you at the entrance, bleeding all over the place and all cut up. What happened to you?"

Joanne ignored her question, instead sitting up again and testing to see if her legs could handle her weight.

"A couple of men came a while back, starting making us tell them where you were…but we knew that they were fishy, and we said we hadn't seen you…"

That caught her attention. "Really? Thank you."

"They were thin and mean-looking, except one was real big and even meaner. The little ones looked like twins, they did…"

"That's them," Joanne muttered.

"Them who?"

She cursed inwardly. She didn't want to have to reveal anything to this lady; she knew from experience that most small villages hated the military, and hated alchemy even more, both of which she was a part of.

"The ones who did this to me. They kidnapped me for…ah, no reason whatsoever. Did this to me, and some other stuff."

"You poor dear," the woman gasped. "What's your name?"

Joanne hesitated. It'd be safe enough to give her real one, she supposed. "I'm Joanne."

"Well, I'm Karen. What're you doing standing up all willy-nilly? Lay down."

Joanne remembered she was supposed to be in a lot of pain. She didn't know what she should do—maybe scream or something—but Karen began talking before she could decide.

"Anyway, what're you doing on the border of Creta, anyway? It's a tad dangerous here."

Joanne tried to think of a good answer. She couldn't say she was sent on a mission. "I'm just looking around."

"Nonsense. There's nothing up here to do."

_This lady sure is nosy, _Joanne thought irritably. She was still trying to come up with something good when she heard the sound of a door squeaking on its hinges and boots pounding the floor. Karen's eyes lit up and she turned around, lovingly calling out "Harold!"

"I'm back," a gruff voice said back. The man poked his head into the room, his eyes darkening when they landed on Joanne. "So she's finally awake, is she?"

"That she is," Karen agreed amiably. Joanne thought she could detect an undercurrent of worry in her tone, but she ignored it.

"So, what have you brought back for dinner?" Karen queried, effectively changing the subject.

"Some meat," he responded vaguely, taking off his coat. "Is she eating with us?"

"Of course! She's a guest, after all!"

Harold did not look pleased by this, but he didn't say anything. He just shuffled off to what Joanne assumed was the kitchen to prepare the meal.

"That was my husband," the woman explained affectionately after he'd left. "Isn't he nice?"

She chattered with Joanne for a while. Using the time to scope out where she was, Joanne looked around the room carefully. It wasn't big; the bed was against the wall, the rest of the room sparsely furnished. There was an old-fashioned rug, a dusty radio that Joanne doubted still had the ability to communicate resting on a rickety wooden desk, and floral-print wallpaper. She allowed her thoughts to wander until she heard a yell from the kitchen, signaling dinner was ready. Karen tugged her out of bed and led her cautiously out of bed, as if she was made of glass. Again, Joanne remembered she was covered in cuts and and bruises. She animated her face into a wince of pain.

"Stew again," Harold said gruffly once they'd sat down. Karen nodded.

Joanne tried not to wonder what the meat was as she put it into her mouth. Her throat convulsed slightly at its unpleasant texture, but she forced it down anyway. The last time she'd eaten had been on the train two days ago, and she was really fricking hungry. She noticed that the couple kept their eyes on her for almost the entire meal, eating in silence. Karen's attempts at small talk died out rather quickly. Harold's eyes remained fixed on her no matter what distraction his wife gave.

* * *

Joanne slipped out of bed carefully and quietly, looking around. Harold and Karen were asleep. To make sure, she used her nerve alchemy and—with a tinge of guilt—sent her weariness to them. Instantly her mind cleared up and she saw their faces and muscles relax. Creeping outside, Joanne was struck by how cold it was. She had somewhat an immunity to temperature, but even now she could feel it pricking into her skin. Which meant she could keel over from frostbite in no time. She managed to make it to the woods not too far from the village and transmute some kind of garment from the tree fibers.

"Thank goodness I got that little survival tip," Joanne mumbled as she slipped it on. Then, she kneeled in the snow and gave herself a small cut. After some effort, she had a transmutation circle drawn on her pants, right where her fingers could give a quick tap and activate instantly. She retraced her steps, walking back into the house to find a map of Amestris.

"So…I'm here," she whispered to herself, pointing to a vague area on the map. "And a train station is…a mile from here." she groaned inwardly; could her body take that? Normally she'd have no trouble, but she was pretty tired and all that walking in the snow probably meant she was in pain.

"Whatever. I'll catch a train to Central…good." she put the map back in its place and went for the door. _Quickly, _she commanded herself, and took swift steps out of the village. The cold wind whipped at her as she trudged through the elements. She smiled shakily.

_Damn weather doesn't know who its messing with, _she thought.

After what felt like an eternity of walking, she saw a light shimmering through the snowflakes that had begun to fall. Her entire body prickled madly, her nerves struggling to warn her brain of injuries but not having the tools to do so. Considering the fact that she felt like she had just rubbed herself all over a rug, that meant she was freezing, in pain, and in bad shape. No matter; she'd be fine once she could just get on a damn train…

It wasn't long before the enormous vehicle rumbled by. She looked around, then took off as fast as she could, leaping into the boxcar and doing a terrific forward roll across the plank floor. Normally she'd do it the honest way, but she couldn't afford a ticket and she didn't even have her State Alchemist pocket watch. She huddled behind some stacked crates and quickly drifted off.

* * *

"…for Central! Stop for Central!"

Joanne jolted awake, scrambling to get up. _Shit, I fell asleep! _At least she seemed to be at her stop. As she got up, a crate tumbled and hit her. An intense buzzing sensation roared across her shoulder, causing her to wince. _Once I give my oral report to the Colonel, I need to get back home as soon as I can._

She then leapt out of the boxcar, relieved that nobody had spotted her. The dawn light burned her dark-adjusted eyes, forcing her to squint as she raced for Central Headquarters.

Finally, finally she was at the door to the office. The receptionist had given her a strange look as she'd ran by; of course, she was wearing a scratchy shirt and hadn't showered for a while, but at least the woman hadn't stopped her. She quietly pushed open the door.

"Nerve? Is that you?" A voice called out.

"Yes, sir," she called out, shuffling into the room. She stood up straight and saluted.

"Well," he huffed. "I was expecting Fullmetal, but I guess I can't hope for him to show up on time for once, huh…"

Joanne nodded absently. She'd never seen this 'Fullmetal' even though she'd been with the team for several years. Apparently, as soon as she left, he came in and vice versa.

"So," he asked calmly. "One, you're late. You're never late. Two, where's your cape?"

"I got kidnapped," she answered just as steadily. The entire team stiffened visibly and turned to face her. "They took my cape _and _my pocket watch. They also did one hell of a number on me."

Now the Colonel had dropped his casual smirk and looked concerned. "You need to get home then. You can turn in the report tomorrow."

Joanne bobbed her head. "Really? Alright, then."

Colonel held up a finger. "First, use that alchemy so I can see how bad off you are."

She winced, remembering how she'd managed to make her capturers fall to the ground with just a fraction of her pain. But she obeyed, pressing her fingers to the dried blood on her pants. Glowing with a faintly purple light, she could see all the nerve clusters in the room. There was Havoc's slightly grayed-out one, glowing smartly, and Fuery's bright, slightly trembling bunch. At the front was the Colonel's; a burning bright blaze covered with specks of black ash. She'd love to investigate further, but she usually just stared at the surface to keep the owner's privacy. With a small bit of effort, she split a quarter of her pain with him.

She opened her eyes, observing the Colonel's expression. His face tightened and he breathed in deeply, closing his eyes.

"Christ," he puffed after a while. "How much was that?"

"Twenty-five percent."

"_Twenty-five? _You need to get home immediately!"

Joanne nodded, trying not to sway on her feet. God, she was tired. She saluted again, slightly less sharp this time, and turned to go. She refused to stumble or trip. She had to know if Aria was okay.


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for the reviews! ^^**

* * *

"I'm home!"

Joanne opened the door to her small apartment with a cry, calling out with as much joy as she could muster in her state.

"Big Sis? Jo_annnnne!" _the jingly, vivacious voice answered from farther down the hall. An intense, quick pattering of steps reached Joanne's ears, and then she saw her little sister running down towards her.

"Big Sis!" she repeated happily, before jumping up into her arms. Joanne struggled to keep her grip, her body buzzing in protest and her arms already starting to give out.

"Careful, there," she cooed gently. "I'm a little banged up."

The little girl looked up and fastened her wide viridescent eyes on her older sister's face.

"You're hurt?" she asked in a confused tone. Joanne nodded and carefully placed her on the ground. The babysitter, Pon, quickly poked her head into the foyer.

"Can't pay you now," Joanne whispered. "Something happened while I was out. I'll do it as soon as possible."

Pon gave a quick, smooth nod. Without words, she left the apartment, waving her hand in a gesture that meant several things; _my pleasure, good luck, see you next time._

"Aria," Joanne continued, refastening her attention to her little sister. "Were you good while I was gone?"

Aria nodded intently, her russet curls bobbing up and down. "I was! I was!"

"That's very good."

"Big Sis, you said you're hurt," Aria squeaked. Joanne nodded, kneeling down.

"Could you fix me up, kiddo?"

"Yes!" Aria nodded cheerfully, placing her hands on her head. She closed her eyes, and the golden headband she wore glimmered and glowed. The band stretched across her head, like a tiara; in the center was a small green bead with a transmutation circle etched on it. There was another one, a golden bead, but that wasn't used as often. The circle sparkled a bright white, and light encompassed her tiny hands. Her left hand carried a green light, while the right was coated in gold. The light mimicked smoke circles, starting at her wrist then slowly ghosting off into the atmosphere. Aria carefully brought down her hands onto Joanne's chest. The light tingled and spread across her whole body. Soon, the cuts and bruises vanished. It took a while, but finally the small child removed her hands with a grin.

"Done!"

"Thank you, Aria," Joanne answered. She then gave her little sister a big hug and swooped her up into the air.

"Big Sis! Big Sis!" she giggled, flailing. She wrapped her small arms around Joanne's neck, her chest still shaking with laughs. "I missed you!"

"I missed you too." Joanne kissed Aria on the cheek, which made her laugh even more. "Let me make dinner. After that I have to write a report for Mr. Mustang."

"Do you have to go to work tomorrow?" Aria asked, looking up at her sister again with those big eyes.

"Mhm," Joanne said absently, heading towards the kitchen while balancing the red-haired girl in her arms.

"Can I come?"

Joanne nodded. "Sure. You haven't seen your big brothers in a while, have you?"

Aria giggled and nodded. "Big Brothers!"

"That's right. Why don't you sit down at the table while I make something?"

"What're you making, Big Sis?"

"Let's see what we have in the pantry." Joanne moved across the floor, scooting around the L-shaped counter. The kitchen wasn't very extravagant, devoid of any fancy foods or even a proper pot, but it had what they needed and that was good enough. Joanne looked into the cabinet.

"Aria," Joanne said in a condescending tone, "did you eat all the cookies I'd bought?"

The girl at the wooden table pouted. "Pon said I could."

"Really?" Joanne turned, raising an eyebrow. Aria was an excellent liar, but after several years of learning her tricks, the teenager had learned to spot the chinks in her armor. "Well, I guess we're having some rice and chicken, then."

Aria nodded, pleased at the lack of vegetables. Little did she know, Joanne slipped some into the plate.

After a few minutes of idle chit-chat and Joanne almost dropping the pan, dinner was served. They bit into it without complaint, even if the chicken was a little bland and the rice a little burnt. Being a State Alchemist, she should logically have more than this; but the strain of having her own apartment, paying bills, and providing for not only herself but also Aria at the age of fifteen was rather draining. At least she lived a thousand times better than she did when she was barely a teenager, scrounging around in the streets alone.

After dinner, Joanne took on the difficult task of putting Aria to bed. Finally, around 20:30, she could start on her report. She began on how she'd arrived at the border, looking for the warehouse that'd supposedly been storing weapons, where she had been ambushed. She waxed eloquent details on how her capturers had looked, when suddenly a thought struck her.

_Experiences like this could blind and destroy people for the rest of their lives, _she realized. _People would have horrible nightmares, bolts of anxiety and fear, scared of shadows…but I can just walk away? I didn't even think about it for most of today. I don't care at all…it was just a little obstacle. _The odd thought sent her pencil to a standstill. Really, when she thought about it, she was under-reacting immensely. She'd been kidnapped, stabbed, punched, and assaulted…but she didn't feel it. All she had felt was a numb sensation. And here she was at home, bearing no scars, idly writing a report. All because she could feel no pain, all because of a disease she'd had since birth.

How did she feel about that? This concept always sent her brain into a confused frenzy. Was she relieved? Was she sad? Or was she curious? _What was pain like? _That was the question that, no matter the subject, always cycled back in. _What is pain? _Half the time she couldn't even tell _where _the pain was even located, let alone how intense it was. Her only compass was 'the more you feel, the worse it is'. It sent waves of frustration through her body, but she shoved it aside, writing the report anyway.

* * *

"Aria, I'm leaving for work," Joanne called, slipping into her brand-new cloak she had made last night. It had a transmutation circle right where her fingers reached, so she could be ready in an instant.

"You said I could come, right?"

"Sure. Stay close to me. And put on your jacket; it's cold out."

"Okay! Okay!"

Joanne led her sister through the bustling Central streets. Despite the sun only rising a few minutes before, the city was already alive. As they swept through sidewalks, Joanne remembered a time where she had hidden in the alleyways, broken and alone.

_The sound had been explosive. It had startled her from whatever task she had been doing._

Joanne quickened her pace. "We're almost there," she stated.

_She moved swiftly, amazed to find herself face-to-face at the scene of a car accident._

There it was; Central Headquarters, looming around the whole city menacingly.

_No movement came from the wreckage. She stepped a bit closer and spotted two people in the mess._

"We're here!" Aria cheered, letting go of Joanne's hand and running for the entrance.

"Hey!" Joanne yelped, racing forward to catch her sister.

_Both had flowing red hair, streaked with lines of gold. They looked like royalty, fallen from the throne._

Joanne quickly caught up with Aria, scolding her for running off, knowing that the little girl wouldn't be paying attention.

_The first one she noticed was a young woman. She was coated in blood, her eyes shut, lips bloodless. When Joanne touched her, the flesh was cold. She pulled back as if it had been scalding._

"Yes, I'm Joanne Kaiser," she said the the secretary, checking in a bit breathlessly.

"And the young lady?"

"That's my sister. Aria Kaiser."

The tall woman looked down at Aria disbelievingly. They didn't look anything alike. Aria had beautiful jade eyes, flowing fire-red hair, and porcelain skin. Joanne, on the other hand, had sea blue eyes and black hair, filled with strands of brown, plus a rather tan skin color.

"Very well," she replied after a beat, pulling her eyes back up to Joanne. "You're going to Colonel Mustang?"

"Yes. I'm turning in a report."

_Then, with trepidation, Joanne turned to the other body. It was so tiny, so young. Her heart constricted in pity. The little girl was a mirror image of her mother. Then she opened her eyes._

"Alright, Aria," Joanne murmured softly. "Lets go."

"Okay!" The girl grabbed her older sister's hand, skipping towards the office.

_She was alive! The little girl was alive! She didn't have a single scar on her body, either. Joanne quickly gathered the toddler into her arms. The child wailed and reached out for the dead woman next to her._

Joanne pushed open the oak door, looking into the room.

"Ah, Nerve," the Colonel greeted, waving his hand. "Have that report?"

"Yes, sir," she replied with a salute. "And something else as well."

The Colonel looked confused, which then melted into surprise when Aria bounced in.

"Hi!" she chirped. The rest of the men (and Hawkeye) turned around to look at her, all grinning.

"Hey, kiddo!" Havoc greeted.

"Big Brother Jean!" she responded, running towards the table where the men worked.

Joanne laughed and walked up to the main desk, placing the report on the smooth wooden surface. Mustang's eyes searched her face, nodding, seeming to be pleased. "Looks like you're all healed up?"

"Yes, sir."

Mustang nodded again. "Alright, so I suppose we'll—"

Suddenly, an explosive _bang! _sounded off behind her. Joanne whirled around, fingers already on the transmutation circle, ready to attack. To her surprise, the rest of the team didn't even react. Had she imagined it? Her eyes darted to where she'd heard the noise, and saw a very angry, very _short _boy walk in through the door.

"_Colonel!" _he roared. A humongous suit of armor followed him, squeaking out protests.

"Brother, how many times have I _told_ you not to kick the door open like that?" it said in exasperation.

The boy ignored it. "Dammit! You fucking KNEW it was gonna be a dud, didn't you?! You bastard! That mission barely had anything! I bet you…" the kid went on, ranting and swearing furiously.

Joanne was extremely taken aback. Nobody in the room seemed to care at all, staring at him with amused expressions. The Colonel was smirking.

"Oh, come on, Fullmetal," he said lightly.

_Fullmetal? _What on earth? _This _was Fullmetal? The Hero of the People? No, there had to be some mistake. Of course—the suit of armor behind the raging kid was Fullmetal. How had Joanne even considered the other one to be the real deal?

"It's not kind to swear like that in front of people you've never met. It gives a bad first impression."

"What the fuck are you going on about now, you sick—" the blond-haired teenager turned around, his eyes widening in shock when he spotted her. Joanne raised her eyebrows.

"Is this the other alchemist on your little team?" he grunted, turning back to the Colonel without so much as a 'hello'.

Joanne turned to the Fullmetal Alchemist and bowed. "It's nice to meet you. I've heard a lot about you."

"M-me?" The armor gasped, pointing to himself.

"Yes," Joanne clarified, bemused. "The Fullmetal Alchemist, right?"

In that instant, it felt like the entire room sucked in their breath. Even the Colonel winced slightly. Time seemed to freeze, then—

"_I'M _the Fullmetal Alchemist, DAMMIT! Not him!"

Joanne's jaw dropped. "_You? _But you're so…short! And unproffes—"

"_Who are you calling a pipsqueak midget who's so small that when he goes to the beach he sinks into the sand and when the tide comes in he doesn't even have to stinkin' worry about drowning because he's so microscopic he can break oxygen atoms out of pure water?!" _he shrieked at the top of his lungs. The room went dead silent, Aria plugging her ears with a huge frown.

Joanne's jaw dropped. This had to be some kind of joke. How could this possibly be Fullmetal? Edward Elric? There was no way…

As if in proof, he ripped his State Alchemist pocket watch out of his pocket. "_See?" _he snarled. Then his eyes lowered and focused onto some point near her legs. Instantly his demeanor changed from that of an insane, raving madman, to that of a scholar trying to figure out a particular problem.

"It's not nice to stare at a woman's legs before you even know her name," a patronizing voice came from behind. Instantly the pissed teenager was back.

"I'm not—doing that, you pervert! I was just looking at the transmutation circle on her cloak!"

"That's what they all say, Fullmetal."

If it was possible for Edward's face to flush even redder than it was, then it did. "Fuck you!" he whirled around, crossing his arms.

"So what _is _your name then?" he asked after a pause.

"I'm Major Joanne Kaiser, the Nerve Binding Alchemist," she stammered after a moment, the words recited and devoid of any meaning. Her brain had been slightly fried after the shouting match that had just occurred. "And that's my little sister behind you, Aria Kaiser."

"Little sister?" Ed echoed, turning around. "Oh. I didn't know there was a kid here."

"Not like that would've stopped you, Brother," the armor bit spitefully.

Ed raised his hands. "Hey, I'm not _that _out of control when it comes to my temper! Geez!"

"Yes you are," every person in the room (except Aria and Joanne) said in unison.

The teen rolled his eyes with a huff and turned back to Joanne, looking at her cloak again.

"What kind of circle is that? I've never seen anything like it." At that, the suit of armor turned towards her to observe it. She shifted under the glowing soul-fire eyes.

"It's my own. I mean, I came up with it."

Ed nodded, his temper suddenly cooled down. "Okay. The circle on the left is a enhancer, right?"

"R-right," Joanne responded in surprise. Nobody had realized that before. Not to mention how quickly he had calmed down. What a weirdo.

"So the necessary one is the one on the right," he checked. "And the circle…can I guess how it works?"

Joanne nodded. She severely doubted he'd get even close.

"That's supposed to be a tree reaching into the sun. You're the Nerve Binding Alchemist, right? So I'm guessing that's a metaphor for the nerves touching the brain."

Her jaw dropped a little. How on Earth had he guessed it first try? _Well, _she thought, _he has to be in the military for _some _reason. _

"Yes," she said with a nod. "You got it pretty quickly. The alchemy lets me see into people so I can split certain feelings based on my nervous system, such as pain."

Ed bobbed his head slowly in acknowledgment. "So something that doesn't affect your nerves, such as confusion, doesn't work?"

"No, not exactly. Like you said, the circle includes the sun, and I can inflict soul feelings as well. Not to mention the sun in alchemy resembles the soul." It was very refreshing to finally be able to communicate about alchemy. Even the Colonel seemed to get a little lost when she started going on about how it worked.

"Her alchemy is one of a kind, Fullmetal," Mustang chimed in. "Nerve, why don't you show him an example?"

"Hm? Alright." Far be it from her to disobey an order. She pressed her finger pads to the symbols, which glowed with purple light in response. She then closed her eyes, and she could see those nerve clusters again.

Except…

_What the hell? _Had she screwed something up? It wasn't that Edward was missing his nerves around his arm and leg, everyone knew he had automail…but the suit of armor wasn't showing up at all. The circle had never been incorrect, and she always triple-checked she had drawn it right whenever she made a new cloak.

This discovery sent her back into reality, frightened. "You—your brother!"

Ed froze, his eyes widened. She noticed Mustang tense up as well, his lips forming a silent curse.

"He has no nerves," she said in wonder. "Is he…_empty_?"

The room went dead silent. In that moment, all life seemed to vanish, every breath held, every person hanging on the reactions of the Elric Brothers.

* * *

**Strange way to finish, I know, but I'm saving the next part for other chapters.**


	4. Chapter 4

Ed's eyes had just widened. The armor went completely still. Time seemed to have stopped, encased in ice, a painting of shock. Joanne caught the small flickers of life; Havoc's eyes shooting to his left, Fuery looking up slowly, a frown distorting his usually cheerful face. She had said something irrevocably wrong.

Then Aria took a step forward.

It was as if the glass shattered. Instantly time resumed once more, albeit very slow and cautious.

"Are you part of the team?" Aria asked, oblivious to the choking tension in the room.

"Me? Oh, yeah, I am," Ed replied after a beat, the words sped up by his relief at the changed subject.

"Then you're my Big Brother Ed," she said, nodding importantly. "You're smaller than everyone else. So you can be Little Big Brother."

And then everything froze once more. This seemed to just worsen the overall mood in the room. Ed had gone pale, but he still smiled shakily.

"Yeah?" was all he said. The fact that he didn't even react to the word 'small' alarmed Joanne. Something was horribly wrong here, if only she could figure out wh—

Then something caught her eye and her heart leapt into her throat. The golden bead on Aria's head was glowing.

"Aria!" Joanne commanded, but it was too late. Aria latched onto Ed's hand, and her mouth opened.

"What's that you're thinking of?" she questioned. "That white doggy with the red hair?"

Time didn't freeze this time. Instead, it bent out of proportion, speeding up and slowing down. What happened next seemed to run in slow-motion, yet last a second at the same time.

Ed drained of color, his jaw hanging slightly at the girl latched onto him. Then he stumbled back, stuttering some phrase before bolting out the door.

"_Brother!" _The armor called in surprise, taking off after him. The team stared at the open entrance where the brothers had just vanished in open-mouthed shock. Aria blinked her wide eyes, and looked back at Joanne questioningly.

"Nerve," Colonel growled in a deadly authoritative voice. "Bring them back here."

Joanne saluted. "Sir!"

She grabbed Aria's hand—she'd need her sister to track them down—then went off. As they rushed past the halls, much to the surprise of the people walking along, Joanne chastised Aria.

"Aria," she growled, "how many times have I told you not to do that?"

"Why not?" she queried innocently.

Joanne bit her lip, trying to think of it in terms that the young girl would understand. "How would you like it if I could read your mind and all your secrets?"

And, of course, since the argument was against Aria's, she puffed our her cheeks and indignantly said "I wouldn't mind!"

"And what if you were planning to steal the cookies? I'd stop you and give you a time-out before you even did anything."

That gave Aria pause. She frowned, thinking.

"You can't use that alchemy," Joanne coaxed gently. "Unless I tell you to. Even then, I'll only tell you to do it if I really, really need to."

"Okay," Aria mumbled, but Joanne severely doubted she'd pay attention.

Turns out, Joanne didn't need her sister's abilities. She just followed the trail of shell-shocked people who had just witnessed a huge suit of armor chasing the Fullmetal Alchemist.

Soon, she was lead into a web of alleyways. Aria suddenly froze.

"There," she squeaked, pointing. "They're in that one!"

"How do you know?" Joanne mumbled. The golden transmutation circle wasn't glowing. Either she somehow sensed them without the alchemy, or she had simply never turned it off. A quick sentence from Aria confirmed the latter.

"Didn't we _just _finish talking about this?" Joanne huffed in exasperation. She intended to continue when suddenly a look of horror flickered on Aria's face, so sudden and unexpected that Joanne froze.

"Aria? What's wrong?"

"His—his _mind," _she hissed, her voice suddenly not sounding that of a young child. "There's…a lotta blood…and he hurts…and he's in pain…and there's a circle there…and the big armor…his arm and leg're gone…"

"Wait—now? Or in his memories?" Joanne asked urgently. She kneeled down, grabbing Aria's shoulders.

Ignoring Joanne, Aria continued shakily. "And—and now he's thinking of the doggy again…and he's punching a person with brown hair and glasses. He keeps…hitting him…and yelling…and—and the doggy, it's _talking, _and he's…so scared, Big Sis!" Aria looked up, her huge green eyes locking onto Joanne's. "He's so scared. Why's he like that?"

Joanne's mind reeled. She wasn't really thinking about the dog, rather the first sentences. Blood? Pain? A circle? What kind of circle? Joanne doubted Aria could pronounce _transmutation _at her age. But that all sounded an awful like…

"_I know it was stupid!" _Suddenly, a raised voice came from the alleyway that the Elric brothers were supposedly in. "Ugh, God, that was dumb. I _know _Al! I just wasn't thinking, okay?! I'll go back if it makes you so damn happy…"

Joanne took Aria's hand gently, standing up and moving slowly towards the alley. Lifting a single finger to her lips and looking at her little sister meaningfully, Joanne edged towards the wall where the brothers were hiding. She peeked in, hoping to see them. Once she confirmed that they were indeed the Elrics, she stepped out of hiding.

Ed caught her eyes first and yelped in surprise. "Whoa! How'd you find—what're you doing here?!"

"You stormed out before the Colonel could give you your mission," Joanne replied evenly. "He sent me to bring you back."

Ed rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to respond when suddenly a great force attacked the back of Joanne's head. She caught Fullmetal's expression before she went down; a look of shock and horror. She then pitched forward and slammed her face on the pavement. Aria let out a wail of fear as numbness radiated from Joanne's nose. She immediately shoved herself up, looking around angrily for who had attacked her.

There she saw two people; an enormously short, fat creature who she couldn't quite pinpoint whether it was an adult or child, and a tall, thin teenager with wild green hair. The latter lifted their leg and aimed for Ed's neck, who quickly raised his automail arm in time to block the attack.

_We're being jumped? _She thought, stunned. Instantly her senses came back and she leapt in front of Aria, spreading her arms out to protect the little girl.

"Big Sis!" she shrieked. Joanne's heart jumped into her throat. Was she injured? She turned to face her sister.

"Those people!" she wailed. "They have so many _thoughts! _Big Sis, there's so so many! They're all scared…they're all in pain…"

"Turn off your alchemy!" Joanne barked. Clearly, Aria's powers weren't going to be of help here. The red-haired girl nodded fervently and placed her hands on the headband. Joanne sensed someone racing towards her, and she whirled around to face them. The green-haired person was standing in front of her with a wicked smirk. Fast as a snake, they dipped low and reached for her. Expecting an attack, she blocked, before realizing too late that they were aiming for her cape. With a flourish, they gripped the black fabric and tore it. She gave an involuntary gasp, fury welling deep in her body. She raised her foot and kicked them hard enough to stave in their chest; they stumbled backwards, hunched over. She didn't even have time to feel triumphant before red flashes of light surrounded their body and they stood upright again, the sick grin still there. They ran towards her again, aiming for her arm. She quickly began to dodge before they feinted and dipped low yet again. Before she could blink, their leg connected with hers with an incredible amount of force. Explosive tingles raced around her whole body and she crumpled. The sensations wouldn't go away, and with a thrill of panic Joanne realized that they'd broken her leg.

"_Fuck!" _came an intense, frustrated cry to her right. "Dammit, it's _them _again?!"

_Again? _Edward knew these thugs?

Joanne instinctively reached for her alchemy before realizing the transmutation circle was gone. Before she could devise a plan, she saw the other assailant lumber towards her and bring his fists together. She couldn't stop those fists from coming down on her head.

* * *

Back, forth, back, forth. Joanne groggily blinked her eyes open, looking around. The green-haired kid was carrying her over their shoulder, explaining the gentle sway.

"Aria," she slurred, dizzy and confused. "Aria…Aria…where's Aria?"

"Shit, you're awake?" the person carrying her grumbled. "Go back to sleep."

"Aria," Joanne repeated, her voice more urgent this time. "No…no…is Aria okay? Tell me…first…"

"That other little brat? Yeah, she's fine."

Relief swept through Joanne, so sweet and soft that her eyes slid shut and she fell asleep once more without a word.


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: This story takes place a little bit after Lust's death, AKA episode 19.**

* * *

With a gasp, Joanne's eyes fluttered open. Afterimages of her dream burned into her mind and bones, the look of ice-blue eyes, searching hers with regret and despair and pain. Images of a woman with wavy brown hair laying her down on the steps of a house, a hand stroking her cheek.

The image of her mother's back as she turned away and abandoned her only child.

Sucking in breaths, trying to convince herself that she wasn't in the rain all alone, her eyes slid around her surroundings. She was in a large room, dank and chilly, even for her broken nerves. Sickly green pipes, thick as tree trunks, snaked around the floor, leading up to a magnificent chair. Next to her lay Edward and Alphonse, the armor dismantled. Joanne gave a shudder when she saw that it really, truly was empty.

"…Brother?" it murmured, the sadness in his voice suggesting he'd tried calling out for his sibling to no avail. Speaking of siblings…

"Aria!" Joanne gasped. She whirled around and realized that she was chained against a wall. Despite this, she turned best she could, spotting her precious sister in handcuffs. She was sleeping.

"Dammit," Joanne cursed, trying to reach for her. A small yelp from behind stopped her. Joanne turned again, surprised to see Ed waking up abruptly.

"What—what the hell? Damn, they got us, huh…" Ed turned, and the sight of Alphonse's broken armor seemed to enrage him.

"I'm fine, Brother," Alphonse soothed, and for some reason Joanne's eyes decided to notice the bloodied seal drawn on the steel at that moment. She tried stretching forward to see it clearer.

Ed's eyes caught hers, which dropped to her leg. He squealed. "God, doesn't that _hurt?" _he asked suddenly, still staring at her limb. She looked down and surprise coursed through her when she saw her leg bent at an awkward angle. Oh, right, it was broken.

"Oh…um, _ow! _That, uh, hurts, yeah…" Joanne stumbled, completely unsure how bad a broken leg was supposed to hurt.

"Geez, how are you even managing to turn around like that?" Ed puffed, checking her over in concern.

"Must be the adrenaline, I guess," she lied. The Elrics didn't seem to question that as they checked over their own injuries.

"Mm…Big Sis?" came a drowsy murmur to her right. Joanne whirled around once more.

"Aria!" she gasped. "Are you alright?"

Aria looked up, blinking sleepily. "Hnnh? I'm fine. Where are we, Big Sis?"

"I'm not sure," Joanne sighed in response, looking around. Out of the shadows, a pair of feet started progressing towards them. She tensed.

"Well, well, well, here are the famous alchemists." It was the green-haired person, their eyes glittering with disdain. They were colored an unnatural purple. "Fullmetal, Nerve, Little-Miss-Mind-Reader-Slash-Healer, and Mister-I-Don't-Have-A-Body."

"What the hell do you want, Envy?" Ed snarled furiously.

'Envy' raised their eyebrows. "Rude." they walked over and kicked Edward in the ribs. Joanne heard him suck in his breath as he doubled over, hand covering his chest, teeth gritted. Alphonse gave a noise of concern.

Envy then walked over to her. Their eyes searched hers and she fought the impulse to flinch; those eyes, they sparkled with a malice that was completely inhuman.

Without warning, they raised their foot and deftly stepped on her mangled leg.

Instantly her entire body shrieked with small tingles, causing a minuscule shiver to go down her back, but nothing more. Envy's eyebrows raised with mild surprise.

"Huh, so the rumors are true," they whistled. "You can't feel pain at all, huh?"

Joanne nervously glanced to the Elrics, but they were too wrapped up in their own injuries to be paying attention. Envy noticed the quick glance and laughed.

"Oh, don't worry, they'll notice once we're through with you." Joanne didn't have time to analyze that statement before she heard an incredulous yelp from her side.

"I can't do alchemy!" It was Ed, who was clapping his hands together uselessly. "What the hell?! What did you guys do?!"

Envy laughed maniacally. "Stupid humans, thinking they know all about the powers they—"

"That's enough, Envy." another pair of footsteps echoed from the shadows. Ed looked up, and his eyes widened in undiluted shock, confusion, and hatred.

It was a man with a square face and a pale beard. His eyes flickered with the same burnished gold of Edward's, but for some reason they lacked any kind of shine or sign of life. He was dressed in flowing white robes.

"_Hohenheim?!" _Ed spluttered. Alphonse made a noise of shock at the sight of the man. Joanne looked back and forth at the adult and the brothers as if it were a tennis match, completely unaware of what was going on.

"You know him?" the man replied, an eyebrow raising. "What's your relation to him?"

"You're not him?" Ed said in wonder, but his question was drowned out by Alphonse's "He's our father."

The man's dead eyes lit up and he gasped. "He had kids?! I never knew! Would you look at that!"

Ed seemed extremely put off by this man and his behavior, his lips curled as if he smelled something bad.

Without warning, the man walked towards Ed and started poking him around. Ed yelped in protest which dissolved into a cry of pain as the man stabbed towards his injured ribs.

"Some bruised ribs, hm?" a spark of alchemical light, and then Ed sat up a bit straighter, mouth open. Joanne blinked twice at this display; the man hadn't even moved his hands, yet he could command alchemy?

"Envy, you were too rough," he admonished as he went about healing Edward.

"Hey! Gluttony was there too!" Envy pouted.

"Gluttony would have no way to land a hit on a ribcage. Be more careful next time. These sacrifices are precious."

_Sacrifices? _Joanne wondered helplessly.

Once he'd tended to Ed, he wandered over to Joanne.

"And you," he said. He left it at that for a moment, silently observing her.

"What do you want?" Joanne spat.

"No need to be so rude. I'm just quite short on servants, thanks to your friends. So I plan on correcting that."

Envy's eyes widened and they grinned. "You're planning on doing _that?" _

_Doing what?! _Joanne wondered, getting angrier and more confused by the minute.

The man then turned to address Envy. "I managed to grab some of the souls that were still encased in Lust. With the help of my stones, I managed to create a full stone with Lust's consciousness in it. So please do not ask any questions during the process."

Envy's eyes shone when the man said this. "Nice, Father! Should I tell everyone else?"

"That would be good. Go ahead and do that."

Envy seemed disappointed for a second, but then they nodded and ran off.

"Hold on," Joanne said, finally giving into the urge to voice her thoughts. "Lust? Stones? Souls? What the hell are you planning?"

"Be silent, human. I recommend you stay silent for the duration of the process."

Stunned into silence, Joanne didn't respond. _Human? _he said that as if he wasn't one!

Then, without further ado, Father closed his eyes with a grunt. Slowly, the flesh around his forehead tore open, revealing a gray, menacing eye. Joanne sucked in her breath in horror, and she heard clinking of steel as Ed backed away.

"Big Sis?" Aria asked. "What's he doing?"

"Aria," Joanne whispered. "Go to sleep, okay?" she didn't know what was about to happen, but she knew without a doubt that it was going to be unpleasant. She didn't want Aria to be around for it.

Aria yawned sleepily and nodded, curling up, seemingly unfazed by the day's events. A moment afterwards, a pinkish liquid dripped from the eye on Father's head. She gulped, completely confused and more than a little afraid.

"What are you planning to do?!" Ed suddenly snarled from her side. Paying him no heed, Father put out his hand as soon as the liquid fell. It splashed into his palm and cohered into a small, stone-shaped object. The eye closed shut and Father walked towards her. Instinctively, Joanne strained away, pulling at her cuffs. She had to get away from him. He was going to do something, she knew it, she had to—

The man gripped her wrist firmly, and with a deft twist, he looked at the back of her hand. He nodded, eyeing a small cut that Joanne didn't remember being there. He casually raised his other hand and dropped the red stone onto her cut.

"What the—"

And for the first time in her life, Joanne felt it.

* * *

**Yikes...I have no idea how to write Father in character. *shakes fist* **

**RFF please!**


	6. Chapter 6

She felt _pain._

Slicing, debilitating, blazing _pain, _cutting into her mind and awakening her senses, and she finally understood why, oh God she understood _why _it caused people to scream, why it erased all thought, what it did. This was what she had been ignorant to her whole life. This was the belligerent, passionate monster that had ignored her since she was a baby. Agony, pain, hurt, suffering, torment, anguish, torture, trauma—all the words used to describe _this _were hardly accurate. No, this was something she had never come close to experiencing. Without a doubt she could confirm this was the most unique, heart-shatteringly special emotion she'd ever felt.

The still whiteness slammed her sides and began swirling, coming to life with blazing red souls. Their centers were black with sorrow, paling to a sickly pink, their perimeters a bloody crimson. They whipped by her so quickly she wondered if they would tear her skin.

Then a humongous, ruby-colored mass materialized in front of her. The souls scarcely noticed it, simply changing their paths slightly to pass around the creature.

"_Are you my new vessel?" _came a booming, feminine voice.

Joanne blinked slowly, unable to respond. She stared blankly at some general area in front of her.

"_My name is Lust. And I assume you are here to attempt to house me."_

Joanne's eyes flickered up to Lust for half a second. She opened her mouth.

"…Is this what pain is?" Joanne murmured, her voice detached and soft.

"_What was that?"_

"Pain…is this really what pain feels like?"

"_What, have you never experienced it?"_

"No…no, I was born without the ability…"

"_Well, you sound like quite the formidable vessel, then. I suppose I could live with you."_

Joanne couldn't quite recall what she had been doing before, or why she should deny this creature entrance. It was so much stronger than her…

…And then she remembered Aria.

"No."

"_Excuse me?"_

"No, I'm not letting you in." Rage suddenly ate away the pain and acceptance. "Like _hell _I'm letting you take over. I have people I care about."

Lust laughed. "_Well, I'd like to see you try, pathetic, foolish creature!"_

And the souls converged on her.

She soon found that beating the souls was really an easy concept. They seemed to welcome the thought of fizzling away into nothingness. She grabbed one and it came apart in her hands.

_But there are so many…_

Ignoring that little voice, she gripped the next one and shoved it away. Another took its place. She grabbed it and pushed it to the side as if she were simply drawing curtains. Another came. She pushed it away. Another. Pushed. Another. Pushed. Again and again and again…

* * *

Another. Pushed. Another. Pushed. An—

No…this was the last one.

The soul quivered in front of her, staring into her eyes. She faced it, then closed her fist around it.

"I'm sorry," she scarcely managed to say. She was so tired. So tired, so exhausted…

_Kill me. Kill me._

Joanne pushed it aside.

_Thank you…_

* * *

Ed's heart hammered as he watched Joanne. Her body had went straight as a rod as soon as that bearded bastard placed the Philosopher's Stone on her hand. After a few moments, she'd convulsed and her body slammed down onto the ground. Tremors wracked her body, her wrists straining against the cuffs. Her eyes had long rolled back and she wasn't making a noise.

"Hey…" Ed murmured, almost involuntarily. "Hey, wake up!"

Joanne ignored him, but her little sister stirred. She sat up and blinked, staring straight at Edward, her bottle-green eyes piercing his flaxen ones.

"What?" she squeaked. Ed silently cursed. He'd wanted _Joanne _to wake up, not _her!_

Aria's eyes then slid over to her sister. She stared at Joanne, head cocked like a dog trying to understand a certain—oh _fuck _that was a terrible metaphor, she was not a dog, little girls are _not dogs dammit—_

"Big Sis?" Aria chirped.

A violent shudder rolled down Joanne's back. And, with a gasp, she twitched like a lantern's flame coming to life. Her electric-blue eyes jumped to and fro, as if she wasn't really processing what she was seeing, until they landed on Aria.

"Aria," Joanne croaked, her voice a cry of exhaustion and weariness, stretched thin and taut to the point of breaking. Yet it rang with the unmistakable lilt of relief.

The other Homunculi, which had trickled in at the news, stared in surprise.

"Gluttony," Father growled. Without hesitation, Gluttony bounded forward and tore Joanne's clothes in half with ease. Her breasts lay exposed, and Gluttony eyed them intensely. Ed felt the blood rush to his face and he quickly snapped his gaze away. Joanne made a small noise of distaste but was otherwise too out of it to respond.

"Not there," Gluttony whined, tapping the spot where the original Lust had held her tattoo. "It's not there, Father!"

This seemed to surprise and irritate Father. He strode forward and kneeled in front of the half-conscious girl.

"How did you manage to overcome a Philosopher's Stone?" he asked calmly.

Joanne's eyes focused on him for barely a second before fizzling out into glazed nothingness. Father seemed like he was about to do something when suddenly there was an explosion in the corner of the room.

"What the hell?" Envy snarled, turning around angrily. There stood two people; a small, Xingese girl, and a stony-faced Ishvalan.

Ed's heart leapt into his throat when he saw the X-shaped scar on the man's forehead. _Shit! It's Scar!What the hell is he doing here?!_

Without warning, Scar pressed his palm to the ground, his destructive alchemy wreaking havoc among the Homunculi.

"How can he still use alchemy?!" Envy screeched. The small girl even started using it, hopping around madly.

"I'm dreaming," Ed said in wonder. "That explains it. I'm dreaming."

"It _is _pretty weird," Al agreed.

The ground shuddered under his feet, raising and lowering in an odd dance. His stomach jumped from the wavering rocks, his handcuffs shattering.

He gasped as his hands were freed, pale and sore from lack of circulation. He rubbed them quickly, observing the battlefield.

"Al? Any ideas on what the hell is going on?" Ed panted.

"I don't know…Maybe they saw us go in and got suspicious?" Al offered. Ed shook his head, still thinking as he set on putting Al's armor back together manually.

"Nah, I don't think they'd go through all those tunnels just to check out what we were doing," Ed mused. Then it hit him and he gasped. "Oh _shit, _what if they've come to try and kill us again?"

"I'm not sure," Al repeated, sounding preoccupied. "Hey, Brother, I think we should do something about Joanne…"

Ed looked up agitatedly. Joanne was still lying there in her odd stupor, her little sister experimentally poking her. The girl had an air of innocent curiosity, but Ed knew that eventually she would panic and ask questions. He had to do something…but he _had _to put Al back together first. No way was he letting his brother sit there, scattered all over the floor.

"Brother, I'm fine," Al murmured. "Go help her."

"Wait,"Ed growled, trying to figure out where the pieces went. It was like solving a puzzle; and Ed had _never _been bested by puzzles.

"Help her! You can worry about me later!" Al exploded. "Come on! She just overcame a Philosopher's Stone; there's no way she's unscathed…"

Ed bit his lip, knowing Alphonse was right. "Okay, fine, but I'm coming back, so don't…do anything stupid, or whatever."

"Of course, Brother."

Ed nodded tersely, turning around, finding himself face-to-face with Aria.

"Little Big Brother?" she squeaked. The use of the nickname sent unpleasant memories roaring back, but he shoved them down as quickly as they appeared. "Why's Big Sis asleep?"

"She's very tired," Ed replied softly, almost instinctively.

"Will she wake up again?"

For some odd reason, his throat constricted and his eyesight became oddly blurry. "She's gonna wake up, don't worry," he answered, phrasing it as a statement of truth rather than a wild hope. He then edged closer to Joanne, trying very hard to pretend not to notice her lack of clothing. Her eyes were shut, the black lashes ticking her face. Sweat glistened on her cheeks, her soft lips parting slightly, as if she had been crying.

A sharp explosive noise captured his attention, and the Xingese girl was suddenly on top of him.

"Oh, I _knew _I'd seen Edward Elric!" she cried out in joy. "Oh, hello, Mr. Elric! I'm Mei Chang, princess of—"

"_Please _get off me," Ed hissed angrily. Mei's eyes widened.

"Don't treat your princess like that!" she squeaked. Then her face turned into an expression of surprise as she seemed to observe him for the first time. "Why, you're…you're just a bean!" she concluded with shock.

Ed closed his eyes, breathing harshly. This was no time to get frustrated over…s-word jokes.

"And who is _this _woman?!" Mei roared. "I can't believe this! Shattering a heart of an innocent maiden…!"

Ed had no clue what this little kid was going on about, but he managed to unseat her with some effort.

"And to think, I came all this way to see you!" she cried out.

"Okay, yeah, thanks for that," he mumbled absentmindedly, getting up. "I really need to get out of here, so—"

Without preamble or any sort of warning, one of the beads on Aria's head started glowing. She placed her hand on Joanne's leg, and the bone melded back together. The black-haired girl groaned and her eyes flickered open again.

"Aria," she croaked, and her eyelids slid down again.

"Joanne! Wake up!" he demanded. Mei gasped.

"What happened to her?" she asked softly, forgetting her tirade against Ed.

Ed took a deep breath. "Something awful," he sighed. "Now, can you please help us get the hell out of here?"

Mei seemed conflicted, but only for a second. She sighed as she drew a circle on the ground. It was unlike any he'd seen, but he didn't have time to think as she pressed down on it and a tunnel opened up directly behind her.

"Go," she growled. She then turned back to the fighting without a word.

Ed was still reeling from recent events, but with a sigh he decided he had no time to dwell on it. Al had put himself back together with the arm Ed had fixed, so he immediately grabbed Joanne and started towards the tunnel. "Come on, Brother!"

Ed was left with Aria. She stared at him, her eyes shimmering and oddly disconcerting. He swallowed his trepidation. _She's just a kid! Calm down!_

"Hey, Ar…Aria," he started softly. "That's your name, right?"

She nodded vigorously. "Yup!"

"Well, Aria, I want you to follow me and Al. Okay?"

"Okay! Okay!" she raced forward and latched onto his hand with a trust that only a child could summon.

Ed flinched ever-so-slightly at the sudden contact. "Geez, didn't your sister tell you to be careful around strangers?"

She nodded again. "Yeah, but you're not a stranger! You're Little Big Brother!"

Ed couldn't help but give a little smile at that. She was just so much like Nina…

"Let's go," he prompted, tugging on her hand and vanishing into the dank, black tunnel.

* * *

**Ah geez, I know it sounds so rushed, but I honestly don't know how to fix it. This was a harder chapter to write.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapters are gonna get shorter from here on out. The story's almost finished!**

* * *

Joanne's eyes flickered. She groaned loudly, her body feeling like it was made of lead, pressing down against the ground. She struggled to lift her suddenly-heavy eyelids.

With a glazed sort of slowness, she looked around. She couldn't move her head, or at least, she didn't have the will to. She was in a small wooden room with a few plastic crates. The dust surrounding them made her assume they were empty, but other than that, her battered body couldn't make any more brilliant deductions.

Her eyes gratefully took the chance to slip shut again, but they were only dormant for a second before she heard a scream. She awoke again, a bit faster this time, startled.

In front of her was Edward, dragging himself up, nails digging into the plank floor. His cognac eyes were fuzzy and full of panic. She saw them sharpen and come into focus, like a camera lens preparing to take a photo. He sat up, wiping sweat and hair strands from his forehead. He took a deep breath.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"Don't hafta be…sorry," Joanne managed to say in reply. He started, surprised at her voice.

"Oh…you're awake."

Joanne closed her eyes again without responding. A beat passed silently.

"What're…what're yours about?" she asked absently, hardly aware of her words.

"My what?" he asked.

"Nightmares," she replied. If she had been more inhibited, she wouldn't have asked such a thing; but, as it was, she didn't have much control over her broken tongue.

He didn't respond at first, and Joanne managed to berate herself on asking such a personal question.

"I dream about Mom," he answered suddenly, so quietly she hardly caught it. "I dream about…how badly I fucked up…"

"Fucked up, huh?" she echoed. He let out a humorless bark of laughter.

"Hah…you wouldn't believe how badly I fucked up," he said, looking up at the ceiling.

"How bad?"

"Kind of a secret."

"I've gotta secret too."

"This is the kind of secret that could get me kicked out of the military."

Joanne shrugged, a faint twitch of her shoulders. "Who doesn't have a…secret like that?"

He twiddled his thumbs, one flesh, one steel.

"Everyone else with Mustang knows anyway," he sighed, almost to himself. "Hell…I performed human transmutation."

She blinked twice, trying to make sense of it, but utterly unable to.

"Human…transmutation?"

Ed looked up at her, eyebrow raised, his hand still placed on his forehead. "A lot of people figured it out right away. How else could my brother be empty?" he said bitterly.

"Oh," was all she said. She looked up at the ceiling. "Well, I guess that means I should tell you my secret, then."

"I guess."

"I can't feel pain."

"Huh?"

"Can't feel it. It's just a little buzzing sensation, if that." she gave a sheepish laugh. "Sounds kind of trivial compared to human transmutation, huh…"

"Wait, how?" Ed asked, dragging himself into a sitting position. "How come?"

Joanne took a deep breath. "I have whats called a congenital indifference to pain. Not insensitivity, because I can still _kinda _feel it, but yeah…I have trouble with temperature, too."

"Huh," he repeated. He scooted over to her side, somewhat awkwardly. "Hey…how the hell did you do it back there?"

"Do what?"

"The Philosopher's Stone. You completely overcame it."

Joanne's eyes widened as she remembered. The souls, shrieking, the pain, Aria…

"Aria! Where's Aria?! Where are we?" the realization that she had no clue where she was was a bit belated, but she supposed she deserved some credit.

Ed blinked. "We're in the back of a truck. We ran out of here, Mustang spotted us, he offered to drive us off."

"Aria," she repeated weakly.

"Aria's in front. Want me to get her?"

"Yeah. Please."

Ed nodded, getting up and leaving. Joanne missed him three seconds after he'd left, but he came back with Aria in tow.

"Big Sis!" she said happily, tottering forward with her arms outstretched. With a great use of effort, Joanne lifted her arms and embraced her little sister. It didn't take long for the red-haired girl to curl up on Joanne's lap, almost like a cat.

"Really," Ed started again, "How'd you do that?"

Joanne really didn't want to think about it, so she just set her mouth on autopilot. "There were a lot of things around…I just had to push them away and it let me do it…"

"Wait, what? Things?"

"Yeah…the souls and stuff…There were so many. I can't even describe how many…and it _hurt…"_

"Hurt? I thought—"

"It was the first time…I don't know how it happened…" Joanne pulled Aria closer, her eyelids unbearably heavy. "Aria…I found her in a car accident. She could perform alchemy from…birth, it seemed. I don't get her alchemy…it doesn't make any sense…her transmutation circles, they have nothing to them, nothing special…it's as if she's magical, or something…"

"That's impossible," Ed mused. She looked at his face, and could practically see the cogs working in his eyes, trying to find a solution, almost like clockwork.

"Who do you love?" she asked softly, the world starting to go fuzzy around the edges.

"Huh—what?! Whattya mean by that?!" he spluttered.

"Aria's my only family, and we're not blood related, so I don't know any of my relatives," she rambled. "Aria's…everything…to me…"

"…Yeah, I can understand that," Ed murmured, his voice uncharacteristically soft. "I bet Al would tell me I'm just like you, Joanne."

"Say that again," she whispered, unsure if the words were coming out correctly.

"Huh?"

"My name." her eyes closed.

"Joanne?"

She couldn't respond. She was so _tired. _She gratefully fell into sleep, Ed's echoing voice the only thing she heard.

* * *

**I know I said "no ships", and I know this dangerously borders on "ship", but oh well. Sorry if Ed's OOC…I've been playing Ace Attorney non-stop for a while and I think I've lost my touch with his character. Oh, and congenital indifference to pain is indeed a thing! Search it up, it's pretty interesting.**


	8. Chapter 8

Joanne didn't wake up.

Or, at least, the first time she woke up, she didn't wake up.

Her eyes flickered open. She wasn't as exhausted as before, but her body was still heavy and her head felt as though it was stuffed with cotton. She sat up and tried to register where she was. She felt the plush cushions of a couch under her, and the glare of a light source blinded her for a moment.

_I'm in…Colonel Mustang's office…?_

She sat up slowly, wincing at the ringing in her ears. Yes, this was it, all right. _But…why? What am I doing here?_

It took her a moment to realize someone was sitting in the chair. They were turned away from her, but she could tell that whoever it was, they weren't Mustang.

Then the chair turned.

Joanne's heart skipped a beat. That face, she knew it well…

"A-Aria?" she gasped. No, but this was a woman, tall and beautiful, her wavy hair cascading around her shoulders, red and gold.

_Like royalty fallen from the throne…_

Yes, Joanne remembered this woman. She was the one she had seen that fateful day of the car accident, when she had grabbed Aria's tiny body from the wreckage, and abandoned the woman's.

"You're…you're Aria's…" she couldn't finish the sentence. She couldn't even meet the lady's eyes; would there be anger? Hate? Joanne had stolen her child and left her body…she had to be mad…

"Joanne."

The voice was so _warm, _so sweet, that Joanne instinctively looked up into her viridian eyes. They were as brilliant and sharp as Aria's, standing out against her eerily pale skin.

Against her white wings.

"W-whoa! Wait, where am I? How are you here? Am I dead?!" Again, Joanne had a very late reaction to her surroundings, and again, she thought she deserved some credit.

But…what had she been doing before this? She couldn't remember.

"No, Joanne, you're dreaming."

"D-Dreaming?" she asked warily, still staring up at those big eyes.

"Yes. I'm sure you've figured out by now, but I am Aria's mother."

Joanne felt a shiver go down her back. "I-I'm sorry," she got out before thinking. "I-I should've—gone for you too, I should've asked for help, not just—"

Aria's mother kneeled down and placed her finger on Joanne's lips. Her finger felt solid and soft at the same time, gentle and…what was that aura she was emanating? Joanne had never felt it before. It was like being wrapped in a warm blanket, but with something more.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. By the time you came, it was…already too late." her eyes softened. "I don't have much time. So I want to say what I came to say, before you go…"

Joanne blinked. Was she this close to death? That she could speak to this woman before she awoke…?

"Joanne Kaiser, I want to thank you. You raised and took care of my daughter excellently for someone so young. You shielded her and provided care even if you were broken. You saw to my daughter before you saw to yourself…and for that, I thank you for all of eternity."

"M-Miss…" Joanne choked out. No, she didn't deserve thanks—

"Miss Matrem."

"Matrem?" she echoed.

"Yes. That's my last name. Feel free to tell her."

"Aria Matrem Kaiser," Joanne said aloud.

"I like it," Miss Matrem said with a smile on her face. Then she stood up. "I have to go soon. So I want to do one last thing."

"Y-yeah?" Joanne asked warily.

"I'm so proud of you, and you deserved better," she said gently, then she hugged Joanne.

It was like fire and water combining forcefully into magma, crushing and explosive, but it immediately sweetened. Yes, there was that aura again. Joanne just barely recognized it…what was that feeling?

_Blue eyes _

Joanne's eyes widened as she remembered…

_Tan skin, black hair_

This feeling…it was…

_Unconditional love._

Her eyelids slipped shut as she remembered, being held like this. Someone had loved her like this once…but they threw her away…right?

_I'm too young to take care of her_

What were these memories flowing into her head?

_I can't feed myself and this little one, too_

She recognized those words, too. Those were her thoughts when she found Aria.

_I can't leave someone so tiny out in the streets_

But no, they had a different voice to them. Someone else had said those words once…

_What can someone like me do?_

Could it be…?

_I suppose I'll take her for now…_

Her mother. Her mother had said those words.

But her mother couldn't do it. She couldn't take care of a child who had no pain receptors, who could destroy herself at any moment.

And then Joanne was aware of the hug again, which was sending colors swirling up her mind…soft pink, like her baby blanket, and blue of her nursery walls…

_How can I remember all these things?_

But it didn't matter, because someone loved her…cared for her…was watching out for her.

Before she could stop it, tears slipped out her eyes. They fell down her cheeks, plump and wet, and she started shaking. The arms around her squeezed harder, but somehow softer at the same time. She reached up and hugged back, letting out loud, ugly sobs, but it didn't matter, _this woman cared for her…._

It ended all too soon. She felt it fading, like an earthquake shuddering to a stop; she grasped for the warmth, but it was leaving.

"I'm sorry, I must go now," she vaguely heard.

_No, _Joanne thought in fear. No, she couldn't go back, not after experiencing that. This was an angel, and now she understood why the belief of Heaven was clung onto so faithfully. If it was filled with people like this, then…she could get used to it.

"Please tell Aria that I love her," she murmured. The light filtering in from the large window behind her suddenly brightened, forcing Joanne to squint. Miss Matrem turned into a silhouette, outlined against the liquid sunlight as she began to fade.

Joanne reached out one last time. What word should she say in goodbye? There was no time. She had to say something…

"I will," was all she could say. She detected a ray of happiness from the hovering shadow before it vanished.

"I mean—thank you! Thank you!" Joanne cried. Could she hear? Was it too late?

"Th-thank you…thank you…"

"Nerve, you've been mumbling in your sleep for the past few minutes. Are you awake yet?"

Her eyes slowly slid open. She could immediately tell that she was in the real world now; everything was sharper, more focused. And what was that feeling in her neck? It…hurt?

"C-Colonel?" she croaked sleepily. Had it all been a dream? No, that wasn't just a regular dream. It was stuck in her head, every detail clear, like a real memory.

"Finally, you're awake. Before you ask, you're in my house. You weren't in any shape to go back to your apartment."

"Aria!" Joanne gasped before he'd even finished. "Where is she?"

"Aria's sleeping in another room."

Joanne sighed in relief and slid down to go back to sleep. Yes, she could feel it—aches in her joints. What on earth had happened?

"Hey, this isn't like the other times. You can't just confirm your sister's okay then fall asleep every time you wake up. There's stuff that needs to get done."

_Stuff that needs to get done, huh?_

"Yeah," Joanne murmured, forcing herself up again, frozen by the feeling of pain in her body. "We have a lot to do."

* * *

**That's the end!**

**I know, it really doesn't seem like an ending, but this story was never supposed to go any farther than this. This story wasn't a slice of life, rather a story zoomed in on one moment in Joanne's life. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows!**


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